The New Puppet
by Ciotog
Summary: Kankuro has finally assembled a puppet of his own. One that ressembles a well-known figure. And beyond its misleading shell is a deadly weapon... M for character death and some swearing.


Kankuro peered at the clock. Its red numbers reflected off his blood shot eyes. 3:30 AM. Shaking his head, Kankuro returned to the table in front of him. The table was littered in tools, weapons, vials, and puppet parts. Since the destruction of his puppets, Kankuro had been trying to develop one of his own. He'd had no luck… at least till tonight. In the center of the table stood a half finished puppet. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he picked up another needle and placed into one of the puppet's weapon slots. There was still a long way to go.

* * *

When the light from the rising sun hit Kankuro, the puppet was done. Kankuro stared at his creation. It was perfect. Sunlight gleamed of its surface. Smiling he placed it onto a scroll. He couldn't wait to try it out. After placing the scroll with the rest of his gear he staggered off to bed. Hopefully he could get a few hours sleep before Temari woke him up for breakfast, and he used the term ''breakfast'' in the vaguest sense of the word. Damn Temari and her lack of cooking skills.

About an hour later Kankuro staggered into the kitchen. He smelt the charred food all the way upstairs. He plopped into a chair. Temari immediately set a plate of blackened food and a cup of coffee in front of him.

''Good morning sleepy head. Why were you up so late? Let me guess… tinkering with your puppet parts.''

''Not tinkering!'' Kankuro snarled back. ''It just so happens that I have created the most deadly puppet in the world.''

Temari could barley hold back a smirk. ''I see, and when will we get the honor of seeing this _**master**_ puppet?''

''Now.''

Kankuro and Temari turned around. Gaara stood in the kitchen doorway, a scroll in his hand.

''I have a mission for you two.'' Gaara tossed the scroll at Kankuro

Kankuro groaned. He had wanted to test out his puppet, but not when he was exhausted.

* * *

Temari and Kankuro raced along the rocky border of the Sand village. Apparently a group of sound ninja were lurking along the border and Gaara wanted them taken care of. Kankuro was annoyed. He and Temari had been patrolling the border for hours and no sign of any other ninja. They stopped for a break on a small rocky plateau. Kankuro reached for his canteen.

''We've been doing this for hours. I say we call it quits.''

''I don't think Gaara would like that.'' Temari said but she obviously agreed with Kankuro.

''Look, it is not like we've seen anything. No Sound ninja are anywhere near here.''

A new voice broke in. ''Guess again.''

Four sound ninja were now standing on the plateau. Temari and Kankuro leapt up. Kankuro gestured to Temari to lower her fan. This would be the perfect chance to test his new puppet. He reached for the scroll containing the puppet.

''You guys are lucky.'' Kankuro called towards the enemy ninja. ''You will be the first to face my new puppet. It's not every day you get to be the first victims of something this powerful.'' With a flourish he released the puppet from the scroll. ''Allow me to introduce… Pinocchio!!''

The smoke cleared, revealing the puppet Pinocchio. It was a small puppet and looked a lot like the cute little puppet we all know. It even had a little hat and some overalls painted on it.

The Sound ninja burst into laughter while Temari yelled at Kankuro.

''That is your ultimate puppet?''

''Just watch.'' Kankuro growled. ''The problem with my old puppets was that they were to specific in their functions. This little guy can do anything.'' Kankuro twitched his fingers. The cute little puppet had two long knives shoot out of its waist. It grasped them with a flourish. The Sound ninja stopped laughing. Pinocchio shot forward and began to swing the knives with the skill of a swordsman. One of the Sound ninja whipped out a sword and tried to fight Pinocchio. The blades clashed together for a few seconds before the puppet sliced the ninja into three parts.

Everyone stared in silence as the puppet sheathed its knives. Then the Sound ninja drew weapons and got into their fighting stances. Kankuro chuckled to himself. These idiots didn't stand a chance against a puppet master like him.

Pinocchio shot forward firing poison darts at the enemies. They scattered, but Pinocchio followed one of them. The puppet opened his mouth and a net shot out, trapping the ninja. Slowly the puppet advanced on the struggling ninja. Its mouth opened again and flames shot out, burning the ninja alive. His two remaining friends immediately attacked the puppet. Their knives slammed into the puppet, but did no real damage.

Whirling around the puppet's nose began growing. Once it was about three feet long it shot off. The flying nose split into three one foot pieces. Attached to each one was a paper bomb, basically a bunch of flying missiles. One of the sound ninja didn't dodge fast enough and was blown into oblivion.

The last ninja tried to run away. He reached the edge of the plateau before Pinocchio struck. Out of its shoulders came two long chains, which grabbed the sound ninja by the ankles and kept him from getting away. One of the puppets eyes slid up, revealing another needle. This one was fired into the ninja, knocking him out.

Kankuro smiled. Didn't even break a sweat. He turned around to catch Temari's face. She couldn't have been any more surprised looking if Gaara started wearing pink. Kankuro returned Pinocchio to the scroll before picking up the unconscious ninja.

''C'mon. We need to get this guy back to the village for questioning.''

Temari nodded and followed Kankuro. Her brother was a genius. An arrogant, sadistic, genius.


End file.
